The Ultimate Performance Improvement Plan

It has been proven time and time again in the trucking industry that when it comes to accidents; major events come from a summation of Driver risk. By identifying Drivers who exhibit poor performance and by being proactive in remedial correction, top fleets are reducing accidents by preventing accidents. How exactly are these fleets doing this? 3 Words: Performance Improvement Plans (PIP)Whether your fleet is looking to implement PIP’s or improve the PIP’s already in place to make them more effective, these 4 steps are a great place to start to ensure your PIPs are improving the safety of your fleet:

1. Unique Actions for Specific Behaviors

A Driver with a tendency to speed and a Driver that consistently has a poor attitude with Supervisors may both need performance improvement plans. Although both Drivers are exhibiting unacceptable behavior, the plans to improve these behaviors must be targeted to each specific need in order to successfully help improve each Driver’s performance.

Step 1 for your PIP is to make sure you have targeted actions for each specific negative behavior. Some of these targeted actions may be needed for these specific behaviors:

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel for each PIP just because the steps are different. In fact, you can start by creating a template for each PIP and fill in appropriate steps for each plan.

Example PIP Template:

Week 1 Steps:

Initial Driver Discussion

Initial Ride-a-long

Assign training(s) to be completed by end of PIP

Weeks 2 & 3 Steps (Safety/Terminal Manager or Supervisor 1):

Two Phone / In Person / Message Touchpoints per week

Weeks 2 & 3 Steps (Safety/Terminal Manager or Supervisor 2):

One Phone/In Person Touchpoints per week

Week 4 Steps:

Meeting to Review Training(s) / Discuss Program / Review Goals Met

Final Ride-a-long to Review Performance

2. Identifying Goals

Once you have a plan in place for each unacceptable behavior, you will want to make sure you outline each plan’s measurable goals for both the Driver on the plan and the Supervisors and Managers conducting the plan. For each type of PIP, you can prescribe specific topics, outcomes, and milestones for your Driver and also your Supervisors, so all parties can be held accountable for their progress.

When a Driver is being put onto a PIP, they should be thoroughly walked through the following:

Why they are being put on the plan

The steps within the plan that lead to success

The final goals and objectives for their performance improvement

I.e. completing training, having attended/taken part in all meetings, successfully completed final ride-a-long, and demonstrated proven improvement

Answering initial questions or concerns for a Driver will help avoid any future confusion, while also hopefully obtaining Driver buy-in for the plan. Driver buy-in can be best achieved by thoroughly explaining each step of the process and how the goals are both realistic and attainable for the Driver. It’s also important to reiterate the Driver’s importance to the company and how their safety is important to the company’s overall success. This helps frame the need for the plan in order to keep them as a valuable and trusted team member.

The Supervisors or Managers in charge of a Driver’s PIP also have steps and goals just like the Driver. They should equally be committed to the successful implementation and improvement process of the PIP.

The goals for Supervisors and Managers may include the following:

Complete weekly touchpoints on-time

Have an agenda/outline for each touchpoint/training

Have additional materials/tools to help Drivers that aren’t meeting their weekly goals

3. Each PIP Should be Task Oriented

While carrying out a performance improvement plan, the two most important pieces are that each PIP should be both task oriented and time bound. You might have noticed in the template above, each week has a specific number of tasks assigned to specific people. This is vital to having a successful PIP.

Say you are going on a five day road trip across the country, and you have the option to take a paper map or a GPS device. With just the map, you have a destination (or a goal) and a starting point; it is up to you to figure out which route to take. You have no idea whether one way will allow you to make it in five days, leaving the door open to potentially getting lost or delayed along on the way. With the GPS device, however, you are given the optimal route, allowing you to know exactly how long it will take you, and what turn-by-turn directions (steps) along the way will get you there.

Setting a goal with no directions on how to get there might help the occasional Driver achieve success, but most will easily get lost and fall short of the objectives. Equip your Drivers with a specific path to their own success if you want to get the best results.

With achievable weekly steps and goals, a Driver knows exactly how to successfully complete their PIP from the very first day. Every meeting/call/touchpoint should have an agenda and subgoals to be completed by the Drivers and their Supervisors. If a subgoal or agenda is not fully met, the Supervisor knows exactly what to provide the Driver at that time to keep them on the road to success.

4. Each PIP Should be Time Bound

Lastly, it is critical for a performance improvement plan to be time bound. In the template above, we see a 4-week plan as an example. This time frame may vary for your fleet or even for certain PIPs, but it is important that it is fully spelled out exactly how long the plan will run. For example, Driver A exhibited excessive speeding alerts on their telematics system. Upon initiation of his speeding PIP, he must do the following during his 4-week period:

Complete a consecutive 4 week period with no speeding alerts or violations

Attend all weekly scheduled calls/meetings

Complete all assigned trainings

Demonstrate improvement during final ride-a-long (final week)

By having each PIP be time bound, a Driver has a complete understanding of their goals for improvement and the Supervisors have a better ability to track progress to help guide the Driver to success.

The key to the optimal performance improvement plan is to structure things so that there is no possibility for surprises. Every step is carefully outlined and tracked along the duration of the PIP. Drivers and Supervisors know exactly what their end-goals are, the steps necessary for success, and when they need to be completed by. Conversely, both parties also have a complete understanding of the consequences should they not meet the stated requirements of the PIP.

With a clear outline on a time basis, agreed upon goals, and realistic and required steps to reach those goals, Supervisors give their Drivers the best chance to successfully complete PIP’s and maintain their role as a trusted and safe Driver within their fleets.